Miso Eggplant with Udon Noodles

I've been very naughty not contributing enough to this food blog. No excuse, just plain naughty. So to make up for it, I'm going to upload 5, yes 5! new recipes this week.

Recipe No 1.... Miso Eggplant with Udon Noodles. This is a weekday winner. Quick, healthy and delicious. This recipe makes enough for 2 peeps.


Ingredients

1 medium eggplant
1 knob of ginger, finely chopped
1 red capsicum
1 medium head of broccoli
Handful of green beans
Handful of cubed tofu (Mr Lee's savory tofu is my preferred)

Miso simmering sauce ingredients -
2 tbsp white miso paste
2 tbsp tamari or light soy
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp white sugar
1 cup water

Garnish
1 tbsp of toasted sesame seeds
1 tbsp of toasted pumpkin seeds
2 spring onions, finely sliced

What to do -

First get your garnish ready. Place the seeds in a hot pan and dry fry until they are golden. You can add a little soy sauce to make them a little salty if you like. You'll only need around 2 tbsp of this mixture for the garnish but I always like to make more and store in a glass jar in the fridge. You can sprinkle on most asian dishes. Finely chop the spring onion and set aside.

To make the delicious simmering sauce, combine all the sauce ingredients in a glass and mix together. It should taste quite sweet but a little salty too.

Next, chop up all your vegies and tofu into chunky pieces.

Heat 2 tbsp of oil (olive, vegetable oil, whatever you have) in a pan and fry the chopped ginger and eggplant off, stirring constantly to prevent it from sticking. Once eggplant is ever so slightly soft, pour in the simmering sauce. Bring to the boil then reduce to low heat. Pop on the lid and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

Next, get a bamboo steamer (or something similar) and put in the chopped broccoli, beans and capsicum. After 5 minutes of simmering, place the steamer on top off the saucepan.You only want to lightly steam your vegies to keep their vibrant colour and crunch. Add the chopped tofu to the miso eggplant when you have around 3 minutes of simmering time left.

While you are simmering and steaming, place the udon noodles in boiling water for approximately 5 minutes or until cooked. Drain and set aside.

Now for the assembly. Place noodles in a bowl. Spoon on top your miso eggplant/tofu mixture. The eggplant should be very soft and almost falling apart and the sauce quite thick. Then place your steamed vegies on top then garnish with a tablespoon of chopped spring onions, the toasted seed mix and lightly drizzle with sesame oil. Yummo.

Hope you enjoy!